Automatic toaster



Jan. 9, 1951 c HANSEN 2,537,408,

AUTOMATIC TOAS'I'ER Filed Aug. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3

3 I 7 l9 q/ 4/ 27 .9 Fig. 4.

Fig. 6. I I 2 0 2/ 42 l 2 Inventor Carl Hansen Patented Jan. 9, 1951NITED AUTOMATIC TOASTER Carl li. Hansen, Lynn, Mass., asslgnor toMcGrawElectric Company, Elgin, 11L, a "corporation of Delaware ApplicationAugust 8, 1947, Serial No. 767 ,383 9 on. (01. 99-329) I The presentinvention relates to new and useful improvements in bread toasters andmore particularly to an automatic electric toaster.

An important object of the invention is to provide means by which breadmay be toasted to any desired crispness by a thermostatically controlledtiming mechanism and upon completion of the toasting operation toautomatically eject the toast. Another object of the invention is toprovide means by which the bread may be manually ejected.

A still further obiect of the invention is to I zance, eflicient andreliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, andotherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same 1 isintended.

{ v Other objects and advantages reside in the details of constructionand operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebe- .1- ing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof,wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on a line 22 of Figure 1;

Figures 8 and 4 are transverse sectional views taken respectively on thelines 3-4 and 8-6 of Figure 1;

' Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of the thermostaticallycontrolled latch means for the ejecting slide; and

Figure 6 is a diagram of the electric circuit for the toaster.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose ofillustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention.

the numeral 5 designates the casing of the toaster generally and whichcomprises upper and lower casing sections 6 and 1 connected in assembledrelation one above the other by means of vertically extending screws 8extending upwardly through the lower section I and threaded into bosses4 in the upper section 6.

The top section 6 of the casing is provided with a pair of slots 9 forreceiving bread to be toasted and one end of the upper section 6 of thecasing is formed with a vertical slot H for a purpose more fullyhereinafter explained. The bottom section I is formed with a slot l2 foremptying bread crumbs from the casing.

A transverse partition l3 has its upper and lower edges supported ininternal grooves M in the top and bottom sections of the casing at oneend of the slot 9 and a similar transverse partition i5 is similarlysupported in the casing at the other end of the slots 9 and spaced fromthe adjacent end of the casing to provide'a chamber l6 therein forhousing the operating mechanism of the toaster.

The upper and lower edges of the partitions l3 and i5 are formed withvertically extending slots ll in which the upper and lower frames l8 andIQ of a pair of side heating elements 20 and a central heating element2! are supported to provide a pair of the heating elements for each ofthe slots 9 as shown in Figure 4' of the drawings. Wire grids 22 areprovided for each of the heating elements to prevent contact of theslices of bread with the heating element. The grids 22 form narrowvertical chambers below each of the slots 9 in the top of the casing forreceiving the bread to be toasted and bread supports 23 are positionedin the bottoms of the chambers with one end thereof sliding verticallyin an opening l5a in the partitions I5. I

A pair of guide posts 24 are supported in an upright position in thecompartment [6 and on which the flanges 25 of a channel-shaped slide 26are slidably mounted, one end of the bread supports 23 being suitablysecured to the lower flange of the slide for movement therewith. Coilsprings 27 are mounted on the posts beneath the slide for raising theslide and the bread supports.

An arm 28 projects horizontally from the slide 26 and is provided with apin 29 on which the inner end of a lever 30 is pivoted at one side ofthe arm, the inner end of the lever projecting through a vertical slot3! in the slide for positioning under the upper flange 25 thereof. Theouter end of the lever 30 projects outwardly through the slot H and isprovided at its outer end with a handle or finger grip 32.

A latch plate 33 is also pivoted at its upper inner corner on the pin 29at the side of the arm 28 opposite from the lever 30 and is formed atits lower edge with an inwardly projecting dog 3B having a beveled loweredge 35. A second latch 36 projects rearwardly from the slide 26adjacent its lower portion below the latch dog 34 and offset from theplane thereof, the ends of the latch dog 34 and latch 36 overlapping asshown in Figure 5 of the drawings,

A thermostat 31 constructed of a suitable bimetallic material and offiat construction is provided at its lower end with the horizontalattaching plate 38 which is secured in the bottom of the casing andsupported in an upright position at one side of the latch dog 34. Thevertical side edge of the thermostat adjacent the latch dog 34 is formedwith a notch 33. The lower portion of the thermostat 31 is enclosed inan insulated casing 40 and around which is coiled a heating coil 4i withits ends connected to upper and lower contacts 42 and 43 secured invertically spaced relation on a suitable insulated support 44.

A resilient contact arm 43 is connected at its upper end to the slide 28by an insulation block 46 and extends downwardly therefrom in wipingcontact with the contacts 42 and 43 upon the vertical movement of theslide.

The contact 42 for one end of the coil 4| and the heating elements 20and 2| are connected in a circuit with the resilient contact arm 43which functions as a switch arm controlling the circuit.

In the operation of the device, the bread supports 23, slide 26 andlever 33 are normally held in a raised position by the coil springs 21and after bread has been inserted in the slots 9 for resting-on thebread supports 23, the handle 32 is moved downwardly, thereby loweringthe lever 30, slide 26 and bread supports 23 into the position shown inFigure 1 of the drawings. The downward movement of the lever 33 alsomoves the latch plate 33 downwardly to cause the latch dog 34 to rideover the upper edge of the thermostat 31 to engage in the notch 33whereupon the slide 26 and bread supports 23 are held in their loweredposition.

The downwardmovement of the slide 23 also carries the contact arm 43downwardly for engagement with the lower contact 43 when the breadsupports and slide are held in their lowermost position to thus closethe circuit with the coil 4| and heating elements 23 and 2| to toast thebread.

The heating of the thermostat 31 causes the same to bend away from thelatch dog 34 as shown by the dotted lines in Figure of the drawing torelease the latch dog 34 and at the same time to engage the latch 36 inthe notch 33 of the thermostat and permit a slight upward movement ofthe latch plate 33, slide 23 and bread supports 23 and to move thecontact arm 45 away from the contact 43 and into engagement with thecontact 42. The coil 4| is thus deenergized to permit cooling of thethermostat and at the same time maintain the circuit for the heatingelements 20 and 2| closed to continue toasting of the bread.

As the thermostat 31 cools the same assumes its upright position torelease the latch 36 thereby causing an upward movement of the slide 26and bread supports 23 by the springs 21 and to eject the toasted breadthrough the slots 3. Provision is also made for manually releasing themechanism from a lowered position to eject the toast at any period ofthe toasting operation and comprises a tongue 41 extending downwardlyfrom the rear edge of the latch plate 33 and spaced rearwardly from thelatch dog 34, the tongue bearing against the upper edge of thethermostat 31 when the latter is bent from its perpendicular positionafter being subjected to heat.

The lower edge of lever 30 is provided with notch '43 to receive theupper edge of vertical flange '49 at the front edge of latch 33 wherebyan upward movement of lever 33 by handle 32 will swing latch platetoward the right and move the upper end of the thermostat 31 clear ofthe latch 33 to thus release the slide 23 and bread 4 1 supports 23 forraising movement. Should it be desirable to eject the toast manuallywhile the latch dog 34 is still held downwardly by the thermostat theoutward swinging movement of the latch plate 33 will likewise releasethe latch dog 34 from the thermostat.

In order to regulate the timing of the toasting period I provide a camdisc 50 positioned behind the flange 49 and secured at the inner end ofa shaft 5| which is journaled in the adjacent end wall of the casing andprovided at its outer end with a manipulating knob 52. By turning theknob 52 the cam 50 will be rotated to bring its high lobe 53 intoengagement with-the flange 43 to thus swing the latch plate 33 away fromthe thermostat 31 and thus reduce the lapse of time for releasing thelatch dog 34 from the thermostat.

Likewise, the adjustment of the cam 53 will move the tongue 41 of thelatch plate toward the right and likewise reduce the lapse of time forfreeing the thermostat from the latch 36 during the cooling period ofthe thermostat.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will ,be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understoood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein.

1. In an automatic bread toaster, a spring actu-' ated ejector, a pairof latch members carried by the ejector, said latch members being spacedone above the other, the uppermost latch being pivoted and the lowermostlatch being fixed, a bi-metallic latch element disposed in the path ofthe upper latch upon a retracting movement of the ejector to lock theejector in its retracted position, said latch element beingthermostatically responsive to temperature conditions for swingingmovement to release the upper latch and to engage the lower latch topermit the ejector to raise slightly and to release the lower latch topermit the ejector to be biased upwardly through its complete travelpath,

an electric heating element for the bi-metallic latch element, a switchfor said heating element and controlled by said ejector to deenergizethe heating element upon initial raising movement of the ejector torestore the latch element to its original position and to release thelower latch, a manually operated lever pivoted to the ejector for movingthe ejector into its retracted position by a, downward movement of thelever, means carried by the lever engaging and releasing the upper latchfrom the bi-metallic latch element, and means carried by the upper latchreleasing the bi-metallic latch element from the lower latch, both ofsaid means being operable by a manual raising movement of the lever.

2. A toaster comprising a casing having a heating element therein and anopening for receiving bread to be toasted, a spring actuated breadejector beneath the opening, a circuit closer'for the heating elementmovable with the ejector to energize said heating element upon aretracting movement of the ejector, means automatically locking theejector in its retracted position and releasing the ejector for raisingmovement to a partially ejected position, and including a pair of latchmembers having overlapping portions, said latch members carried by theejector, a bimetallic latch element having a notched portion forsuccessively engaging said overlapping portions for successivelyretaining said ejector in each of said retracted and partially rejectedpositions.

3. A toaster comprising a casing having a heating element therein and anopening for receiving bread to be toasted, a spring actuated breadejector beneath the opening, a circuit closer for the heating elementmovable with the ejector to energize saidheating element upon aretracting movement of the ejector, and means automatically locking theejector in its retracted position and releasing the ejector for raisingmovement, and including latch members carried by the ejector providingdetent ste s spaced. apart in the direction of movement of the ejector,abi-metallic latch member for engaging said steps separately, and aheating coil for said bi-metallic member, said bi-metallic member, whencold, engaging one of said steps for holding the ejector in retractedposition, said bi-metallic member deflecting when heated to disengagesaid one step and move into the path of the other step, said bimetal,upon cooling, deflecting in the opposite direction to disengage saidother step and thereby release said ejector.

4. In an .automatic toaster,. a bread carrier biased toward non-toastingposition and movable therefrom to toasting position, mechanism forholding said carrier in said toasting position and for releasing ittherefrom comprising, detent members on said carrier providing twooverlapping, opposed latch-steps spaced apart in the direction of motionof said carrier, a latch having a step-engaging portion for engagingsaid steps separately and a temperature-responsive portion for movingsaid step-engaging portion laterally of the direction of motion of saidcarrier in response to changes of temperature, and means for heating andcooling said temperature-responsive portion, said step-engaging portionengaging the first step when said temperature-responsive portion iscool, deflecting, when said temperatureresponsive portion is heated. todisengage said cally deflecting said step engaging portion in saidopposite direction, and comprising also a member for moving said firststep in said opposite direction for disengaging it from said latch.

6. In an automatic electric toaster having a movable bread carrier.operating and control means including a temperature responsive member,said means being operable in response to heating of said member to movesaid carrier from a first toasting position to a second toastingposition and operable in response to cooling of said member to move saidcarrier to a non-toasting position, said toaster having also a toastingheater, and a second heater for said temperature responsive memberconnected in series with said toasting heater, the improvement whereinthere is included a first switch contact carried'by said carrier. secondand third switch contacts over member for engaging said latch andmechani- 6 which said first contact wipes, said second heater beingconnected between said second and third contacts, said toasting heaterbein connected to said third contact, said contacts being so locatedthat said first contact engages said second contact when said carrier isin said first toastin position for energizing both said heaters, and

engages said third contact only when said carrier is in said secondtoasting position for energiz only said toasting heater.

7. In an automatic bread toaster, a bread carrier biased upward to anon-toasting position and movable down therefrom to a toasting position,detent means on said carrier providing two opposed latch steps, oneslightly above the other, a latch having a detent part for engaging saidsteps separately for holding said carrier in toasting position and athermal part operable in response to heating and cooling for moving saiddetent part horizontally to disengage said steps, said detent partdisengaging the upper step to let the carrier move and engaging thelower step to hold it is response to heating, and then disengaging saidlower step to release said carrier inresponse to cooling, switch andheater means controlled by movement of said carrier for heating saidthermal part, a handle on said carrier having limited up and downmovement thereon, means permitting lateral movement 01 one of said stepson said carrier for disengaging said latch, a pusher movable againstsaid detent part for mechanically moving said detent part in thedirection to disengage the other step, and mechanism operable by anupward movement of said handle on said carrier for causing said movementof-said one step and said pusher.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said handle is pivoted on saidcarrier, wherein a pivoted member carries the upper step and alsocarries said pusher for moving the detent part of the latch oil thelower step and can swing for releasing said carrier from either or bothsaid steps, and wherein said handle is operable to so swing said pivotedmember in response to an upward movement thereof relative to saidcarrier.

9. The combination 01' claim 8 wherein said pivoted member is rigid andpivoted on said carrier coaxially with said handle, and wherein there islost motion between said handle and pivoted member permitting saidpivoted member and said upper step to be deflected around said detentpart of said latch when said handle is pushed down to lower said carrierto toasting position.

CARL I. HANSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fll otthim e spatent UNITED STATES PATENTS

